Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less

18

Monday was a double hell for James. First, he had to see Anne off on the morning TWA flight for Boston, and then he had to spend the rest of the day preparing for the Team meeting in the evening. The other three had now completed their operations and would be waiting to hear what he had come up with. It was twice as hard now he knew that the victim was to be his father-in-law, but he realized that Anne was right and he could not put that forward as an excuse. Nevertheless, he still had to relieve Harvey of $250,000. To think he could have done it with one sentence at Oxford. That was another thing he could not tell the rest of the Team.

As Oxford had been Stephen’s victory, the Team dinner was at Magdalen College and James traveled out of London just after the rush hour, past the White City Stadium and on down the M40 to Oxford.

‘You’re always last, James,’ said Stephen.

‘Sorry, I’ve been up to my eyes...’

‘Preparing a good plan, I hope,’ said Jean-Pierre.

James didn’t answer. How well they all knew each other now, he thought. In twelve weeks James felt he had come to know more about these three men than any of the so-called friends he’d known for twenty years. For the first time he understood why his father continually referred back to friendships formed during the war with men he normally would never have met. He began to realize how much he was going to miss Stephen when he returned to America. Success was, in fact, going to split them up. James would have been the last to go through the agony of another Prospecta Oil, but it had certainly had its compensations.

Stephen could never treat any occasion as a celebration, and as soon as the servants had brought in the first course and left, he banged the table with a spoon and declared that the meeting was in progress.

‘Make me a promise,’ said Jean-Pierre.

‘What’s that?’ asked Stephen.

‘When we have every last penny back, I can sit at the top of the table and you won’t speak until you’re spoken to.’

‘Agreed,’ said Stephen, ‘but not until we do have every last penny. The position at the moment is that we’ve received $777,560. Expenses on this operation have totaled $5,178, making a grand total of $27,661.24. Therefore, Metcalfe still owes us $250,101.24.’

Stephen handed around a copy of the current balance sheet.

‘These sheets are to be added to your own folders as pages 63C. Any questions?’

‘Yes, why were the expenses so high for this operation?’ asked Robin.

‘Well, over and above the obvious things,’ said Stephen, ‘the truth is that we’ve been hit by the floating exchange rate of sterling against the dollar. At the beginning of this operation you could get $2.44 to the pound. This morning I could only get $2.32. I’m spending in pounds but charging Metcalfe in dollars at the going rate.’

‘Not going to let him off with one penny, are you?’ said James.

‘Not one penny. Now, before we go on I should like to place on record...’

‘This gets more like a meeting of the House of Commons every time,’ said Jean-Pierre.

‘Stop croaking, frog,’ said Robin.

‘Listen, you Harley Street pimp.’

Uproar broke out. The college scouts, who had seen some rowdy gatherings in their time, wondered if they would have to be called in to help before the evening was completed.

‘Quiet,’ the sharp, senatorial voice of Stephen brought them all back to order. ‘I know you’re in high spirits, but we still have to get $250,101.24.’

‘We must on no account forget the 24 cents, Stephen.’

‘You weren’t as noisy the first time you had dinner here, Jean-Pierre:

The table went silent.

‘Harvey still owes the Team money and it’ll be just as hard to acquire the last quarter as it was with the first three-quarters. Before I hand over to James, I’d like to place on record that his performance at the Clarendon was nothing less than brilliant.’

Robin and Jean-Pierre banged the table in appreciation and agreement.

‘Now, James, we’re all ears.’

Once again the room fell into silence.

‘My plan is nearly complete,’ began James.

The others looked disbelieving.

‘But I have something to tell you, which I hope will allow me a short respite before we carry it out.’

‘You’re going to get married.’

‘Quite right, Jean-Pierre, as usual.’

‘I could tell the moment you walked in. When do we meet her, James?’

‘Not until it’s too late for her to change her mind, Jean-Pierre.’

Stephen consulted his diary.

‘How much reprieve are you asking for?’

‘Well, Anne and I are getting married on August 3rd, in Boston. Anne’s mother is American,’ explained James, ‘and although Anne lives in England, it would please her mother if she was married at home. Then there’ll be the honeymoon and after that we anticipate returning to England on August 25th. My plan for Mr Metcalfe ought to be carried out on September 15th, the closing day of the Stock Exchange account.’

‘I’m sure that’s acceptable, James. All agreed?’

Robin and Jean-Pierre nodded.

James launched into his plan.

‘I shall require a telex and seven telephones. They’ll need to be installed in my flat. Jean-Pierre will have to be in Paris at the Bourse, Stephen in Chicago on the commodity market and Robin in London at Lloyds. I will present a full blue dossier as soon as I return from my honeymoon.’

They were all struck dumb with admiration and James paused for dramatic effect.

‘Very good, James,’ said Stephen. ‘We’ll await the details with interest. What further instructions do you have?’

‘First, Stephen, you must know the opening and closing price of gold in Johannesburg, Zürich, New York and London each day for the next month. Jean-Pierre, you must know the price of the Deutsche mark, the French franc and the pound against the dollar every day during the same period, and Robin must master a telex machine and PBX 8-line switchboard by September 2nd. You must be as competent as an international operator.’

‘Always get the easy jobs, Robin, don’t you?’ said Jean-Pierre.

‘You can...’

‘Shut up, both of you,’ said James.

Their faces registered surprise and respect.

‘I’ve made notes for all of you to work on.’

James handed two typewritten sheets to each member of the Team.

‘You add these to your dossiers as pages 74 and 75 and they should keep you occupied for at least a month. Finally, you’re all invited to the wedding of Miss Anne Summerton to James Brigsley. I shan’t bother issuing you with formal invitations at such short notice, but I’ve reserved seats for us on a 747 on the afternoon of August 2nd and we’re all booked in at the Ritz in Boston for the night. I hope you’ll honor me by being ushers.’

Even James was impressed by his own efficiency. The others received the plane tickets and instructions with astonishment.

‘We’ll meet at the airport at 3 pm and during the flight I shall test you on your dossier notes.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Jean-Pierre.

‘Your test, Jean-Pierre, will be in both French and English, as you’ll be required to converse in two languages over a transatlantic telephone, and appear expert on foreign currency exchange.’

There were no more jokes about James that evening, and as he traveled back up the motorway he felt a new man. Not only had he been the star of the Oxford plan; now he had the other three on the run. He would come out on top and do his old pa yet.